The main assumption of this thesis is existence of traditional and modern values in the Chinese society. The author of this paper believes that this characteristic differentiates that market from other luxury markets and drives the way luxury is consumed. The study tries also proving that the perception of luxury and conspicuous consumption can be changed in time in the process of bigger internationalization of the country. The research focus is put primarily on psychology of luxury consumer in China and what stands behind their motivation of purchasing high-end products. / Program: Master in Fashion Management with specialisation in Fashion Marketing and Retailing

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. However in order to be successful in influencing others, a manager must be able to know what their subordinates think. With the knowledge of subordinate¡¦s perceptions, managers can perfect their use of influence tactics and then be able to easily perform influence on others. One of the most important aspects that can influence perspectives is culture. In Hofstede¡¦s (1980) study it was found that Chinese societies are high in power distance and can be classified as collective societies. This is the result of Confucianism, which spreads values of social order and harmony. In this society, relationships are extremely important. Another characteristic of the Chinese is that they are elitists, and have a deep-rooted belief that education can raise a person to higher levels in society, thus we can see the importance of having expertise. Because of the high power distance which implies inequality and love of power, and collectivity which implies the difference in treatment between in-group and out-group members, it can be inferred that the Chinese tend to have Machiavellian personality. Thus we can see that the three main factors that influence the acceptableness of different influence tactics are expertise, relationships and Machiavellianism. The purpose of this study is to examine influence tactics from the subordinate¡¦s perspective, and to explore the relationship between expertise, personal relationships, Machiavellianism and influence strategies. The results show that (1) the closeness of the relationship is the most important factor to consider when choosing influence tactics, the closer the relationship, the more tactics one can use, both hard and soft tactics would be acceptable, (2) If the manager is known as having expertise, it would be best to use soft tactics, however subordinates will also accept hard tactics from managers who have a higher education level, (3) there was no significant relationship between influence tactics and Machiavellianism.

The purpose of this study is to identify and examine the factors that are affecting Chinese parental decisions to enroll their children in local private non-profit Christian primary schools in Hong Kong. Two research instruments were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data from parents. These include the questionnaire survey and the follow-up telephone interviews. A total of 1404 questionnaires were given out, to three different schools, with a return rate of 82%. A total of 59 parents who returned their questionnaires were interviewed for explanation of their responses. Documentary analyses were conducted to assess whether or not the case schools are in line with the parents' expressed preferences. The study identifies three leading criteria which parents use in the selection of a private primary school. The "academic-centered" aspects and the "child-centered" aspects (Woods, Bagley and Glatter, 1998) have been found to be parents' major concerns and they are closely linked to teacher attitudes which parents value highly. The selection criteria were perceived to be influenced by traditional Chinese cultural values on education and character development. A parent-school interaction pattern has been established in this study. It reflects the concern of parents on the effectiveness of the school in enhancing students' discipline and academic performance through teachers with positive attitudes. Common parental school choice factors are examined and discussed. The study established that parents perceived positive teacher attitudes to be interconnected with student's behavioural and academic performance. It also established that parents who perceived the effectiveness of Chinese cultural values on education also perceived improvements in child's behavioural and academic performance. This study provides school administrators with additional understanding of the interconnecting relations between children's school performance and teacher attitudes. A model of private school choice framework was created to show the interactions among parents, teachers, students and the school management.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Deborah Canter / Junehee Kwon / Foodborne illnesses are a challenge, especially in ethnic restaurants partly because of differences in food handling practices and ethnic cultures. Chinese restaurants, representing the largest number of ethnic restaurants in the U.S., have unique food safety challenges. This study investigated variables including Chinese cultural values (CCVs) that influence U.S. Chinese restaurateurs’ behavioral intention regarding food safety training. The qualitative study, individual interviews with 20 Chinese restaurateurs, found 17 major CCVs that are important to participants. Most participants felt satisfied with previous health inspections, but several expressed difficulty with understanding health inspectors’ instructions and the reports. A limited number of participants provided food safety training mainly because it was required by law. Lack of money, time, labor, energy, and perceived needs for food safety training were major obstacles to providing food safety training in Chinese restaurants. The quantitative study assessed behavioral intention to provide food safety training and the influencing factors including CCVs using the instrument developed based on the qualitative study. Sample included 500 Chinese restaurateurs across the U.S., and 261 provided usable data. Among 17 CCVs, respondents perceived “courtesy” (6.95±0.24), “respect” (6.87±0.47), and “harmony” (6.85±0.41) as most important. The opinions of customers (5.74±1.71), family members (5.73±1.60), and business partners (5.49±1.57) were considered most important. Barriers to providing food safety training included employees’ physical exhaustion (5.89±1.58), employees’ learning capabilities (4.80±1.97), and financial resources (4.56±2.19). Of five CCV factors identified, CCVs pertaining to customer relations (β=0.133, p<.05) and interpersonal relations (β=0.320, p<.001) were significantly associated with behavioral intention to provide food safety training. Additional factors influencing food safety training intention were, personal influence (Fchange=3.98, p<.05), perceived barriers (Fchange=6.42, p<.05), and past experiences (Fchange=21.78, p<.001). Among participants, the males (t =2.97, p<.05) valued customer relations, whereas the females (t =5.52, p<.001) valued interpersonal relations. Chinese restaurateurs with bachelor’s degrees or higher (F=5.905, p<.01) had greater intentions to provide food safety training than others. Manual-based food safety training (6.17±1.23) in Chinese (6.13±1.33) was preferred by the respondents. Future research should evaluate if recommendations from this study have positive influences on food safety training at Chinese restaurants.

ABSTRACT Starting in September 1997, the Hong Kong Education Commission has adopted School Self-Evaluation as part of the framework of Quality Assurance Mechanism for promoting quality education culture in schools. Under a project initiated by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, some primary and secondary schools started to implement school self-evaluation in their school. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of this self-evaluation framework based on principals’ and teachers’ perception of these participating schools. The relationships among school self-evaluation, school cultural changes, teacher co-operative learning culture and principal leadership are also explored. Furthermore, this study examines whether other factors, such as school type, teacher gender, teacher ranking position, teachers’ year-of-teaching-career and Chinese cultural values, will affect the implementation of self-evaluation in schools. A mixed approach of methodology was adopted for this research work. The findings indicated that school self-evaluation can initiate teacher co-operative learning culture, which in turn effects cultural changes in these schools. Also, the above named components play specific roles in the school self-evaluation implementation – school cultural change process: teacher co-operative learning culture acts as mediator, school self-evaluation as moderator and principal leadership as change facilitator.

ABSTRACT Starting in September 1997, the Hong Kong Education Commission has adopted School Self-Evaluation as part of the framework of Quality Assurance Mechanism for promoting quality education culture in schools. Under a project initiated by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, some primary and secondary schools started to implement school self-evaluation in their school. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of this self-evaluation framework based on principals’ and teachers’ perception of these participating schools. The relationships among school self-evaluation, school cultural changes, teacher co-operative learning culture and principal leadership are also explored. Furthermore, this study examines whether other factors, such as school type, teacher gender, teacher ranking position, teachers’ year-of-teaching-career and Chinese cultural values, will affect the implementation of self-evaluation in schools. A mixed approach of methodology was adopted for this research work. The findings indicated that school self-evaluation can initiate teacher co-operative learning culture, which in turn effects cultural changes in these schools. Also, the above named components play specific roles in the school self-evaluation implementation – school cultural change process: teacher co-operative learning culture acts as mediator, school self-evaluation as moderator and principal leadership as change facilitator.

摘要     “语言决定论”说明了语言和思想之间的联系，且通过分析语言与文化间的关系而不断改善。文化在一个人思想形成的基础阶段中发挥了决定性作用，是语言意识形态的基本特征。于是我们可以假设，文化价值作为一种可以衡量文化影响力的手段，文化影响力理应能够在文字中被识别出来和与文字建立起联系，而这也可与网络新词，这个从未被研究过的领域联系起来。     为了证明中国的文化价值对网络新词的影响，笔者会使用“定性内容分析”的方法与“定量分析法”。文化影响了字词的本意，也影响了在网络上出现的新词的意义。此外，中华文化价值与网络新词之间的联系不单可由文化对新词直接的影响中识别出来，亦可间接地在用法中加以识别。而有些网络新词虽然源于其他语言或文化，但是中国文化影响了这些网络新词的语境，使这些新词最终能够与中文融为一体。 / Linguistic determinism has prompted one of the earliest discussions about the connection between language and thought. This link has been further refined through the identification of cultural values playing a determinative role on the basic stage of thought formation, which is one of the fundamental aspects of language ideology. Such findings have sparked the hypothesis that cultural influences, in the form of cultural values as measurable means, should be recognized in or connected to words, even to those that belong to previously uninvestigated areas, such as new Internet words. The methodology of qualitative content analysis as well as a quantitative study applied to a sample of new Chinese Internet words and expressions has demonstrated that the influence of Chinese cultural values on them is identifiable to a significant extent. The cultural values either directly affect the words in their original or new meaning or have an influence on the Internet words indirectly, in their usage. Furthermore, it is argued that such connections between the researched Chinese cultural values and the meaning or usage of the collected new Chinese Internet words and expressions are not only to be strictly categorized into direct and indirect influences but should be considered in a broader sense. Despite some words and expressions originating from other languages and cultures, the influence of Chinese cultural values should still be acknowledged since it is through these that words are able to integrate into the Chinese language.